For sixty years, people have used the “Get 13 albums for just $1.00” advertising slogan of the Columbia Record Club and, later, Columbia House, to build their collections.
Of course, they often didn’t notice the small print that they would have to buy just ten more albums at “regular club prices” (read $5.00 over list price) over the next three years.
What’s worse, many would take the monthly mailings from the club, the ones containing the announcement of their monthly “selection”, and toss them in a pile of unopened mail. Once the deadline to respond past, the club would dutifully send you that selected record with fans of Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull often receiving the latest from the Carpenters.
The business flourished for years until the days of the CD started to move into the era of the download and, now with the growing popularity of streaming, there just aren’t enough people to keep them afloat. On Monday, the parent company of Columbia House, Filmed Entertainment, Inc., announced that it was filing for bankruptcy.
